


HIDEOUT

by craevitae



Category: Cravity (Band)
Genre: Cravity Ensemble - Freeform, Gore, M/M, Mentions of drugs, Pills, This is an au by CHAINAUS on twitter!, Trigger Warnings will APPLY, Violence, i think, major character deaths, one of them kills using a sketchbook, this is main admin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25683385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craevitae/pseuds/craevitae
Summary: An AU by @chainaus on twitter! What if you had the power to control someone's fate with the use of a sketchbook? This AU is written mostly on Hyeongjun's POV!
Relationships: Hyeongjun/Everyone
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	HIDEOUT

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warnings will apply. PLEASE LOOK AT THE TAGS BEFORE READING. Follow @chainaus on twitter to support our new interactive au called ARCANE!

“Woah, that painting contest we just had was an insane battle.” Seongmin exclaimed, as they got out of the auditorium.

“I know right, especially we all,” Taeyoung puts his arms on Wonjin and Seongmin’s shoulders. “Against each other. Which can be fun sometimes, but I know how much time you’ve all invested to practice for the contest.”

“Yeah. It would be so helpful as specs for college.“ Seongmin said. 

“I still can’t believe that we did this on a Sunday. Like, they could’ve just taken time off our classes… I would appreciate that much more.“ You said, as you patted Minhee’s back. “How’s the contest, Mini?”

“It’s… okay, I guess. Nothing any extraordinary. I didn’t really think about what to paint too…” Minhee muttered. “Won’t be surprised if I don’t land a place on the contest.”

“Why are you so pessimistic?” You poked Minhee’s cheeks. “You always do well.”

“I’m kinda hungry. Should we wait for the hyungs to finish the contest?” Taeyoung asked. 

“The contest is going to end in 2 more hours though… I don’t think we can wait for that long.” Seongmin said. 

“Then let's buy some light snacks and be back here? I’m hungry too…” Wonjin pouted. The rest of the boys nodded, as they happily skipped to the school's canteen.

“You always order that,” Minhee points to Taeyoung’s food. “Always the same old mushroom soup…”

“Why? It tastes good. And I love mushrooms.” Taeyoung smiled. “I’m actually surprised that they have this even on a Sunday.”

“That’s because they know that you’re attending the contest.” You joked. “Literally, I think you’re the only one who orders that, at least in our section.”

“Well, that means more soup for me!” They all laughed at Taeyoung’s love for the said mushroom soup. 

You looked at Wonjin who didn’t buy any food, which is weird because you’re pretty sure you heard him saying that he didn’t eat breakfast when he got to the lobby earlier.

“You’re not going to eat?” You nudged Wonjin, as he shook his head. “I want to eat a lot later at lunch. We’re eating out later, right?”

“Probably. But, still; have a sandwich or something. You didn’t eat breakfast, right?” You said, as Wonjin sheepishly nodded.

“But I’ll really eat a lot later. Don’t worry about me!” Wonjin patted your shoulder, as he gave you his infamous eye smile.

Suddenly, a thud echoed the whole canteen. You looked around, then saw Taeyoung resting his head on the table with an empty bowl beside him… sleeping.

“I mean… at least he finished his soup before falling asleep..?” Minhee laughed, as he fixed Taeyoung’s fringe.

“Really weird that you two are exactly the opposites. Minhee has insomnia while Taeyoung has hypersomnia…” Wonjin said. “I’m surprised Taeyoung can still catch up at class, to be honest.”

“Taeyoung studies when he gets the chance to do so because he has no idea when he’s going to fall asleep again.” Seongmin pouted. “He’s literally getting chased by time.”

“As for Minhee, he can’t get any work done because he’s tired…” Wonjin said. “You can try and take a nap now, Minhee. We still have an hour and 30 minutes left.”

“As much as I want to, I can’t.” Minhee pouted. “Did you even sleep earlier? You called me at like, 4 AM.” You asked.

“...I didn’t. For 2 days actually, not even a nap.” Minhee sighed. “I don’t know why actually, but it feels like something bad is going to happen soon.” 

“Don’t say that. It’s scary.” Seongmin whined. “When you say that something is going to happen, it’s usually true.”

“I hope it isn’t…” Minhee muttered.

-

“Hyungs, you’re here! How did the contest go for you guys?” Wonjin raised his arm up to wave at them.

“It went well, I guess?” Allen replied, his gaze shifting to Taeyoung’s current position. “Asleep again?”

A pout formed on Seongmin’s lips as he nodded. “He has been sleeping for an hour and a half…”

“Just leave him be. He’ll wake up soon.” Minhee pat Seongmin’s back assuredly.

The hyungs who just finished their contest went around to look for some snacks to eat while waiting for Taeyoung to wake up.

Jungmo and Woobin decided to buy the mushroom soup that Taeyoung’s been eating a lot of recently. They paid for their own food and went back to the table where the others are.

Meanwhile, Serim and Allen decided to eat sandwiches since they’ll be eating out for lunch soon. Allen approached Serim and said “Serim, can you maybe pay for my food this time. I left my wallet at home. I’ll pay you back don’t worry!”

“Don’t worry about it Allen!” Serim said as he paid for Allen’s food.

The seniors of the group have already finished their food but they noticed that Taeyoung still hasn’t moved an inch.

The atmosphere felt strange, it felt like something bad was bound to happen soon and someone in their group sensed that. “Guys, let’s not think about it too much. I’m probably overthinking again.” Minhee said to lighten up the atmosphere.

They stayed in the cafeteria for a little longer but their boredom suddenly acted, so Jungmo poked Taeyoung’s arm. 

“Would he wake up if I continuously poke him?”

“I doubt that. He’s a heavy sleeper,” You said, eyeing the boy beside you.

Nevertheless, he continued poking him on the same spot.

“What if we tickle him?” Serim suggested.

“What if we shout at his ear?” said Seongmin.

Wonjin slapped the table, another thud echoing across the canteen. He stood up from his seat and said with a mischievous smile, “What if we pour water on him?”

“Wonjin, please sit down.” Minhee tried to pull down Wonjin to sit back down on his seat. “I’ll pour the water on him instead!”

“Guys, just let him sleep,” You chuckled softly.

“Okay, but just for a little bit more.” Seongmin said.

Quite a bit of time has passed since they tried waking Taeyoung up “Taeyoung doesn’t usually sleep for this long...” Serim said with concern evident in his voice.

“Yeah… He usually sleeps for 30 minutes when he’s out. He only sleeps this long when he’s at home…” Seongmin said.

“Maybe Taeyoung’s just tired.” Allen said. “Let's just let him sleep. If he still doesn’t wake up after an hour, let’s carry him to the clinic so he could sleep on the bed.” Allen suggested, and they all nod.

“Oh, I forgot;” Serim pulled out some notebooks from his bag. You didn’t miss the slight pained expression he showed, but dismissed it as you realize it might be his wrist acting up again. “Dean gave out these sketchbooks to all the participants. He had a meeting to attend right after so he just let me distribute these.”

“Looks like a handmade sketchbook.” Woobin said, after being quiet the whole time because he was eating. 

“I like the way it’s binded.” Jungmo flipped the pages furiously to test the quality of the binding. “Yeah. Pretty sturdy.”

“Looks like I don’t have to find my sketchbook.” Allen said, accepting the sketchbook Serim handed to him. 

“You still haven’t found that?” Wonjin said. 

“Yeah… Unfortunately.”

-

[ 9:00PM ]

You just got back home after a long day of catching up with the boys. It has been a while since you’ve hung out with them, especially the seniors; they’ve been busy with their applications for University, so it has been hard to see them.

“Ah… I forgot that we have a Still-life assignment…” You mentally face-palmed; tomorrow is Monday, and it’s your first class.

You grabbed the sketchbook that you use as a portfolio and the sketchbook you got earlier from Serim. You were just about to grab your 4B pencil, only to realize that it’s now too small to work with.

“Hmm… I should make a quick run to the art store.” You thought. It was just a walking distance away from your home, and you needed more vellum boards and paints anyway. You grabbed your coat and wallet, and went out.

Once you got in the store, you were greeted by Serim and Allen. They both walked you home earlier since they said they were going to pass by somewhere, but you didn’t know that they’ll be here.

“Oh? So this is where you were going?” You said, as Allen nodded. “We’re just buying some materials needed for our senior project. We passed by here earlier and we decided to check it out when we take you home.”

You then noticed that Allen was holding all of their materials, but Serim wasn’t holding anything. You then remembered the pained expression he showed earlier when he brought out the sketchbooks. “Serim hyung, is your wrist okay?”

“My wrist? Ah… It’s hurting a bit. But it’s nothing serious.” Serim gave you a smile. “Well, we will be out now Hyeongjun. Goodnight!” Serim ruffled your hair, as Allen gave you a reassuring smile; mouthing ‘don’t worry about Serim too much.’

-

Once you got home, your phone buzzed; it was a notification from your high school. You jumped in delight when you saw that Taeyoung won the art contest, while another participant won for senior’s. You immediately went to the group chat.

Finally in a good mood, you opened the new sketchbook that you got. You were baffled to see a drawing on it, though; but dismissed the thought as it can be the cover page. You flipped the page, and was dumbfounded when you saw… a sketch slowly appearing.

You decided to close the sketchbook and do the drawing on a spare bond paper you had.

It was… weird, to say the least.

[ 12:30 PM ]

Monday. You hated Mondays. Though it took you quite a bit to do your assignment, at least you got a perfect score for it. It’s now lunch time, and you sat with the rest of the boys on the same table. You were thankful that the lunch times of seniors and juniors are the same; at least you can still catch up with everyone.

“When will you get tired of that mushroom soup?” You asked Taeyoung when he sat down.

“Hey, cut him some slack. He won the contest~” Seongmin cooed, as Taeyoung jokingly rolled his eyes.

For some reason, the atmosphere felt so… heavy. Quiet. Like something bad is going to happen.

“Is everyone okay?” Minhee asked quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “It’s just… it’s that feeling again. It’s creeping me up.”

“Yeah. I think something is going to happen.” Woobin said. “I can’t pinpoint what it is, but it’s definitely something… really bad. The last time I felt like this was the day before our 1st semester finals and I didn’t do well on most exams.” Woobin added.

“Hey, you just transferred from another major. It’s fine, it’s normal. You’re doing well now…” Serim patted Woobin’s shoulder, as the latter gave him a small smile, continuing to eat his lunch.

“Anyways, are you not going to treat us out or something, Youngtae?” Wonjin poked Taeyoung’s neck, as he giggled. “Stop that! I’m ticklish!”

“I wonder what’s Youngtae’s prize. They never really announced it, but it’s definitely going to help for college.” Seongmin said.

“You told me you’re going to treat me with ice cream, right?” Taeyoung smiled at Seongmin, as the younger nodded.

“Of course! It’s my promise!”

You then noticed Allen just playing with his food, the broccoli on his plate was just being stabbed by the fork. You knock on the table to catch Allen’s attention, as he then stopped playing and looked at you. He just raised his eyebrow; questioning why.

“You okay, hyung? You don’t have much of an appetite?” You asked. Allen froze a bit, before nodding.

“Yeah. I just don’t feel like eating today.”

[ 1:30 PM ]

PE class. You’re still questioning why the school has PE right after lunch. You’re now changing your clothes in the locker room to gym clothes, as you then noticed Taeyoung slowly sliding his hands down the locker.

“Taeyoung? Are you getting sleepy?” You asked, as Taeyoung nodded.

“It’s… it’s a different type of feeling though… Not usually the one I get…” Taeyoung sighed. You then went near the younger, checking his temperature; but it seemed normal. He’s sweating profusely, though.

“You should go to the clinic. Something might happen… We’re playing basketball today.” You said, then Taeyoung fixed his posture and smiled at you. “I’m okay. Maybe I’m just tired…”

You eyed him. You noticed that he was getting a little pale, and his huffs were getting frequent. Knowing that Taeyoung is stubborn, you sighed. “Are you sure?” You said, as he nodded.

“Okay. Just go to me if you’re feeling worse, hmm? I’ll take you to the clinic.” You added, as you went to the gymnasium with Taeyoung; your hand holding his.

Not knowing it’s the last time.

The game was going well. You’re teammates with Taeyoung, so if he suddenly falls asleep while playing, you’re sure that you will be able to catch him. As much as Taeyoung’s condition demands attention, he doesn’t want his condition to be a burden to others. 

Taeyoung has the ball right now, he’s dribbling to the other side of the court and tossed it to the ring. You gave Taeyoung a high five when he scored, as you all continued playing’ till your coach halted the game and asked for a time out.

You all gathered to the coach, as you noticed he was eyeing Taeyoung. “Kim Taeyoung, are you in a good condition? You don’t seem so.” He said. 

The problem is, Taeyoung wasn’t budging.

“Kim Taeyoung?” Our coach leaned in front of him. “Kim Taeyoung? Do you hear me-”

Taeyoung suddenly started to fall down, as you caught him in time. You winced, as you accidentally twisted your ankle a bit at the unexpected force. Your coach helped Taeyoung up. 

Wonjin, Seongmin, and Minhee, who was in another team, rushed to Taeyoung when they saw him falling down. “I need someone to take him to the clinic so he can sleep properly. Could one of you do it?” 

You, Wonjin and Seongmin raised their hands, almost losing their balance since you still have Taeyoung on your grasp. The coach eyed you, giving silent permission to take him.  
“Well, you already have Taeyoung on your grasp, might as well as you take him. Ahn Seongmin, you can tag along.”

The coach slowly lets go of Taeyoung, as Seongmin replaces him. He sneaked his hand on his waist, as you both took Taeyoung to the clinic. 

“Was Taeyoung already sleepy before PE?” Seongmin asked you, and you nodded. “He actually looked pale earlier, and he was sweating more than usual. But, I couldn’t convince him to step out of the class. You know, he’s stubborn.”

“Pale? Sweating? That’s… new.” Seongmin went deep in thought. 

“Hyung…” Seongmin muttered, as you hummed. Once the both of you were in front of the clinic, you reached for the knob to open it; almost losing your grip on Taeyoung when Seongmin spoke again.

“Didn’t… Taeyoung fainted? Not… sleep..?”

At the thought of Taeyoung suddenly fainting when he never did that before, you immediately went inside the clinic, almost getting the three of you to fall down; but that wasn’t your concern right now. “Seongmin, let Taeyoung rest on the bed. I’ll look for the nurse.” You said, when you noticed that the nurse wasn’t here. However, when you were about to go out of the clinic; Taeyoung started to cough. Profusely.

“Taeyoung? Taeyoung-ah?” Seongmin started to shake Taeyoung’s shoulders. You immediately grabbed Seongmin’s wrist, getting them away. “Don’t shake him, stupid!”

“Then what am I supposed to do? He fainted, and he’s now coughing!” Seongmin was obviously panicking, well, not like you aren’t too; but you had to think rationally. Taeyoung fainted, now currently coughing out, what did you have to do next-

Suddenly, Taeyoung rose up from the bed, and started to vomit. Seongmin lets his knees fall, shocked at the sudden moment he’s seeing. He has never seen Taeyoung this… sick. He doesn’t even know if Taeyoung’s hypersomnia is acting up or he has another condition.

You finally snapped out from your train of thoughts, as you went near Taeyoung and patted his back slowly. However, you felt bumps on his back. 

“Huh?” You said. Not wasting any time, you lifted up his shirt; only to see tons of hives scattered on his back.

“Allergic reaction…” You muttered, as Seongmin looked at you.

“Hyung what? Allergic reaction?” Seongmin said. 

“HE’S HAVING AN ALLERGIC REACTION!”

-

[ 3:25 PM ]

“Looks like Mr. Kim Taeyoung had an anaphylactic shock. Is he allergic to anything?” The doctor asked. The others looked down, not knowing anything about Taeyoung being allergic. You know it, though.

“Nuts. Any kind of nuts.” You said. “That’s the only allergy of him that I know of, though.”

“I’ll check his results later to see if there’s any other allergens that could’ve affected him. .Was he exposed to a dusty environment? What did he eat today?”

“He only ate mushroom soup…” Seongmin muttered.

The moment you called the emergency number, the nurse suddenly showed up in the clinic which bought some more time in assisting Taeyoung. It was a rollercoaster of emotions; you didn’t even know if Taeyoung was out of danger or not.

Maybe… you shouldn’t have thought about that.

“Code Blue. Emergency room. Code Blue.” The speakers suddenly blared. Doctors and nurses immediately went inside the Emergency room with their needed equipment, going to the room where Taeyoung is in.

All of you we’re praying. Hoping that Taeyoung is okay. That he will survive. 

Until…

The doctor got out of the room, huffing a bit. He did a short breath, as he faced the boys.

“Kim Taeyoung. Time of death, 3:34PM. Cause of death… Anaphylaxis.”

It became silent. The boys couldn’t believe what they just heard.

Taeyoung… is gone… just like that?

No one believed it. No one even dared to go inside and see him.

No one could.

After a long time of contemplating whether you should tell the others what was in your head, you decided to just say it.

“I could’ve stopped it,” you started. “I was with him in the locker room. I saw... I saw him.... he looked so in pain and I wanted to bring him to the clinic but-“

“Then, why didn’t you?” Minhee asked, not looking you in the eye.

The tears in your eyes were threatening to fall when you heard his question. You didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Hyeongjun. You couldn’t have known. None of us did....” Woobin assured you, shooting a glare at Minhee.

“But he saw him. He could’ve done something, but he didn’t!” Minhee said as he raised his voice at you.

“I know we’re all not in the best state right now, but blaming others isn’t going to solve anything.”

“Not in the best state?! Our friend just died, of course we aren’t!”

“Calm down, plea-“

“How the fuck do you expect me to calm down after what just happened?!” He exclaimed, standing up from where he was seated.

“Minhee, please...” Wonjin pleaded with a shaky voice, softly tugging at Minhee’s fingers.

Minhee looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it after seeing Wonjin’s fragile state. He sat back down, exhaling deeply.

A single tear fell from your eye just as you saw Seongmin burst into tears beside you. You wanted to comfort him, but because you couldn’t even comfort yourself, you didn’t.

There were a lot of things you wanted to do, but didn’t.

[ 6:00 PM ]

It was a long journey going home. Your eyes were swollen and red, and you couldn’t really decipher any moment. You couldn’t think.

As you sat down to your desk, your eyes then lingered to the sketchbook. You opened the said sketchbook, as you cried again; seeing the complete drawing.

It was a table, a bowl, and beside it was Taeyoung’s name tag.

This sketch… this is too much of a coincidence. 

[ 12:30 PM ]

It was a week after the shocking incident, and of course none of the boys have recovered from it. Lunch time together with the seven of them don’t feel the same anymore to you, it was mostly silence; no more jokes or laughs between the 8 of you.

“Let’s buy something to eat, shall we?” You asked the rest of the table, but didn’t get a proper reply.

“I think none of us have the appetite to eat, Hyeongjun.” Allen finally replied after almost a minute of silence. 

“He could’ve been eating that darn soup by now...” muttered Seongmin, out of the 8 of you, Seongmin was the closest one with Taeyoung. 

They have been friends for so long; and now, knowing his best friend went away just like that hit him so hard. He still can’t accept the reality that one of his best friends is now gone. 

Noticing the youngest on the verge of breaking down again, Wonjin moved himself closer to Seongmin, patting his back.

Silence filled the table again; no one dared to speak or make a sound. The atmosphere has been like this everyday since the incident. 

You thought of breaking the silence by asking about your sketchbook which you saw last time, but knowing the situation, you thought that it was better to not talk about that matter at all. 

Out of the blue, Serim sat up from his seat and went somewhere without saying anything. Everyone was left with confusion as to why the eldest suddenly left the table. 

“Serim hyung, where are you going?” Woobin asked the older, but because Serim has walked away, he didn’t answer. 

“Does anyone want to tag along with him?” Jungmo, who has been silent this whole recess finally spoke up. 

Minhee, facing his head up answered the latter, “Why don’t you go yourself, hyung?” 

Without any words, Jungmo stood up and slowly walked away from the table, following Serim, probably to the school’s rooftop.

“I... I’ll go back to class.” Seongmin said softly, standing up from his seat. 

“Do you want me to accompany you, Seongmin?” you offered, but Seongmin immediately shook his head, meaning he doesn’t want you to. 

“I… need my time alone… but thanks, hyung.” with a weak smile, Seongmin left you and the rest, leaving you with Allen, Woobin, Wonjin, and Minhee. 

Then the school bell rang, meaning recess time was over and every student had to continue their classes. Without any will to study at the moment, the five of you stood up and forced yourselves to go back to class. 

[ 4:00 PM ]

School finally ended for that day, the day felt so long for each one of you. Some of you still have clubs to attend, while the others can go home immediately. 

You usually walk home with Taeyoung and Seongmin, but now you have to walk with Seongmin only, just the two of you. Thinking about Seongmin made you realize that you’ve been waiting for him for 15 minutes, but he hasn’t showed up at the school gates. 

He’s usually quick to get out from class and go home. Curious of where he is, you tried to look for him around school, and met Wonjin on the way. 

“Wonjin hyung!” you called out while approaching him. 

“Oh, Hyeongjun. You haven’t walked home yet?” You noticed that he sounded more serious than he usually would.

“Seongmin hasn’t showed up at the school gates, so I decided to walk around and look for him.” you answered Wonjin’s question. 

“Why don’t you try to message him?” Wonjin asked again. 

“I have… but he hasn’t replied yet. He will reply later.”

It felt awkward. It never felt that way with Wonjin. Thankfully, you got a message from Seongmin that eased the awkwardness you were feeling.

Just after you said that, your phone beeped and it showed a message from Seongmin; “Woobin hyung walked me home, hyung! Don’t worry! ^^”

Knowing about that, you parted ways with Wonjin, you going to your own house, while Wonjin was still walking around the school.

On the way home, you decided to go to a nearby convenience store to sit down for a while while eating snacks. You opened your sketchbook and saw some random scribbles on a new page. Just looking at it gives you goosebumps, the scribbles slowly looking like a familiar building to you.

[ 3rd POV ]

Meanwhile, Serim is at the rooftop sitting alone at the bench, looking at the sky to clear his mind. The weather is sunny, the sky is pretty clear, and Serim was the only one there, until the rooftop door creaked open, revealing Jungmo.

“Oh? Jungmo? Aren’t you supposed to be at your club?” Serim asked, confused.

“The teacher didn’t come, so I decided to look for you here, and here you are!” Jungmo explained shortly; with a smile on his face. 

“Hyung, why are you here?” His voice got quieter as he sat down beside his hyung who was seemingly zoning out.

“Just looking at the sky. It reminds me of Taeyoung’s bright smile. I still can’t believe he’s now gone.” 

“It’s so unfair. How can they take away our happy pill? He’s just a young, happy boy with his bright smile and positive energy,” Serim continued, not even stopping to breathe.

"Uhm Jungmo anyways, i have something to tell you… it's about my hand, the doctor said its condition is getting worse lately and i’m getting scared by the thought of it.” Jungmo looked at Serim with worry evident in his eyes.

Back in the convenience store, despite how creeped out you felt by the scribbles, your curiosity won you over. You continued watching until you realized why the structure in the drawing looked so familiar, spitting out some of your drink due to shock.

It was the school’s rooftop.

Wonjin went up to the school rooftop. He had a feeling that both Serim and Jungmo were there as it was one of the places the three of them used to hangout in before, as Serim would always go there to think. Things haven’t been that fine between him and the other two, though he was curious. He wanted to know what they were doing.

He was right. They were both at the rooftop, talking.

He hid behind the rooftop door, peeking through a small gap and faintly hearing what they were talking about.

"Uhm Jungmo anyways, I have something to tell you… it's about my hand, the doctor said its condition is getting worse lately and i’m getting scared by the thought of it.” Jungmo looked at Serim with worry evident in his eyes.

He got even more curious, opening the door a bit more to hear their voices more clearly. 

“I haven’t told this to anyone yet but I got diagnosed with-

He didn’t get to hear the end of his sentence. Instead, he heard a sound as if someone was hit by something really heavy. His eyes widened, seeing Jungmo falling down to the ground... but he never heard the sound of his fall.

-

The moment you see the sketch, you immediately look for something that can be used to erase it, but unfortunately the sketch wouldn't budge.

Then it hit you.

As if on cue, you sprinted back to the school, not forgetting to put your sketchbook in your bag. Tiny sweats started to form on your forehead and your heart was pounding abnormally fast. As you reached your destination, you saw a little commotion forming in front of the said building. A young man is lying on the ground, head bleeding.

Nervously, you pick up your pace and start walking towards the center of the crowd. There, you recognized the familiar face being surrounded by its own blood.

Koo Jungmo. 

It was your very own hyung, lying on the cold, hard ground.

You instantly went to check on him, "Jungmo hyung, please wake up..." Tears began to form in your eyes the moment you felt that his pulse was getting weaker.

It was only then when you heard what the people around you were saying.

“Look at the person up there!”

“Did he push him?”

Instinctively, you looked up at the top of the building, there you saw rose petals falling from the rooftop. You're feeling confused as to where they came from. You looked at your surroundings and noticed that you were the only one who was getting showered by the petals. 

Then, you saw Serim and Wonjin looking down.

You then noticed a wooden box that was disassembled to pieces, with blood stains on its corner. You were panicking; did that box made Jungmo fall?

You first dialed an ambulance and explained the situation, then you saw Minhee emerging from the crowd. When he saw the both of you, he immediately ran and leaned down to check Jungmo's pulse and breathing.

"What the fuck? What happened?" Minhee exclaimed, as he quickly got his spare shirt on his bag and wrapped it around Jungmo's head to stop the bleeding. Minhee winced, as his eyes trailed on Jungmo's wrist... which was twisted.

"Minhee, I'll leave you here for now, okay? Please look out for Jungmo, I already called the ambulance." You said, as you stood up; but a grip on your wrist stopped you from doing so.

"Why are you just going to leave me here? Is there something else more important than saving Jungmo?" Minhee shouted, as you tried to remain calm.

"Minhee, Serim and Wonjin hyung are fighting at the rooftop and I don't think we would want another incident to happen. I'm sorry." You said, as you harshly removed his grip on you and sprinted all the way to the rooftop. 

Whilst running, you heard some faint shouting which seemed to be coming from the rooftop. The voices you heard seemed familiar so you quickly ran upstairs to the rooftop.

After some running, you finally made it to the rooftop. There you saw Wonjin pulling Serim’s collar aggressively. In a blink of an eye, Serim was already on the ground, with blood stains on his uniform. You guessed that he was already punched by Wonjin several times before you came.

Serim looked so defeated, as much as he wanted to punch the younger back, he couldn’t because he could already feel the pain in his hand.

Noticing that, you ran towards Wonjin and pulled him away from Serim to prevent him from punching the older even more. Wonjin fought back, which made it harder for you to pull him away. 

You desperately called out his name to hopefully calm him down a bit. It worked though; he finally stopped shouting at Serim. 

The eldest tried to stand up from the ground, while pain was still visible on his face. 

“Wonjin, please, listen to me first!” Serim yells his frustration at Wonjin, “You have to believe that this is not my doing!”

“Tell me how the fuck can I believe you?! You were the only one here!" Wonjin shouts back to the older.

“Wonjin hyung, Serim hyung, we can talk this out, please.. There’s too much happening already and we should all be in this together…” You said with tears rolling down on your face. 

“We??? I’m not associating myself with a fucking killer.” Wonjin spat out. 

After waiting for some time in silence, Allen and Woobin finally arrived almost at the same time; with Allen asking about what happened to you. Woobin just finished walking Seongmin home, and immediately rushed to the school when Allen called him. He didn't tell Seongmin about the incident yet, knowing that he's still having a hard time accepting Taeyoung's.

“Is it better now?” Woobin asked Serim when he gently pressed onto his wrist, then Serim nodded slightly.

“Can you tell us what really happened earlier?” Allen proceeds to ask Serim. 

“I… was just chatting with Jungmo here, then all of a sudden a wooden box with roses swung Jungmo, which made him step back and fell down.” Serim explained with fear shown in his tone.

Dumbfounded and confused is what you're feeling, none of you could say a thing. That explanation was just too hard to believe.

“I don’t know about this anymore, I’m not believing your fairy tale about roses falling from the sky, this is not a joke, murderer.” Wonjin yelled while standing up to leave, but Allen was quick enough to pull Wonjin’s hand.

“Wonjin, I know you’re confused and frustrated but this is suspicious, so don’t let your emotions control you and let’s talk about this together, okay?” Allen told Wonjin to prevent him from walking away. 

“The ambulance arrived.” Serim eyed down, his heart breaking when he saw Jungmo with Minhee. “Let’s all go there.”

Wonjin gave in and went back to sit beside Woobin, maybe because he’s the most reliable person at this moment. Allen convinced Woobin to finally call Seongmin, as Woobin sighed and followed.

[ 6:00PM ]

“I know you guys won’t believe me, I know it.” Serim muttered out, “I.. don’t even know how to make all of you believe.” 

“Your explanation is unlogical, hyung.” You said. "How could a box of roses appear out of nowhere?"

“Perhaps you’re hallucinating? You're not taking a break from studying, you look tired these days, hyung.” Woobin continued.

“I don’t know either. I feel like I’m going crazy.” Serim said while looking at the ground.

“Why don’t you try to rest yourself and get some treatment, you’ve worked too hard at school.” Allen continued. 

“I’ve been planning to." Serim said.

"You're planning on leaving? That's why you met up with Jungmo to kill him because you won't be attending school for a while?" Wonjin grabbed onto Serim's collar again, almost punching his face; but Woobin pulled him away and gave Wonjin a stern expression. Wonjin only sighed, and gave a glare to Serim.

"I needed to take a break anyways..." Serim muttered. "Do you all even know why I called Jungmo to the rooftop?"

No one answered, as they just waited for Serim to speak up again. Serim breathed in, finally telling his secret that he kept for a month.

"I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome." Serim chuckled a bit, looking at his hand that was visibly trembling. "I need to give up on my dream of being a tattoo artist, because that needs precision. My hand can't give that."

Silence filled the whole room, as you patted Serim's shoulder. Serim was only looking down, trying his best not to tear up.

"I called Jungmo to tell him that and tell to you all that I'm leaving. I can't face you guys but... yeah, here we are." Serim broke down completely, as you soft hold his hand; trying your best not to hurt him.

"Serim hyung..." Seongmin cried. "I'm so sorry you have to go through all that, Serim hyung..."

"Don't be sorry, Seongmin." Serim sniffled. "I brought this upon to myself. I never took care of myself..."

"I don't really want to ruin the mood, but..? Doesn't that mean Serim hyung won't have the strength to push Jungmo hyung?" Minhee said.

It made sense... but, still, would that mean Jungmo fell down on his own accord?

If you were going to be honest, nothing is really adding up. But, the sketchbook...

“All of this is too suspicious, first Taeyoung, and now Jungmo hyung. Something isn’t right.” You said out of the blue. 

“It is, but we don’t even know what’s the cause of all this.” Woobin continued the topic after being quiet. 

You wanted to tell them about the sketchbook,

But, for some reason;

You just can't.

Especially when the doctor came out at that exact time, delivering another heartbreaking news.

"Mr. Koo Jungmo suffered multiple fractures on his back, and he also has a wrist and skull fracture. However... he's a brain dead patient. We're very sorry."

[ 7:00PM ]

You immediately rushed to your house to see the sketchbook alone. You couldn't handle the amount of emotions you were feeling; suffering two deaths, and knowing you won't be seeing Serim anytime soon due to his condition just made you want to break down.

Your thoughts were too clouded earlier, so you couldn't comprehend the sketch properly. Now that you're seeing it, it is the school rooftop with the wooden box of roses. On the bottom, there’s ㅇㅈㅇㄴ… what could that mean? You decided to message Serim, hoping that he'll answer.

It has already been a couple of minutes after you sent your message to Serim. You frowned when you saw that you were still left on read, and thought that he probably won’t be replying anymore for the night. It would be better to give him some more time alone.

You decided to just sleep it off. You felt exhausted from feeling too much emotions at the same time from the events that have happened recently.

Besides, things might get better right?

[ Next Day ]

You woke up at the first alarm.

It felt as if you weren’t even able to sleep properly last night, because of the million thoughts that have been going around your head. You don’t even remember dreaming about anything. It’s as if you fell asleep and instantly woke up the next second.

It was a school day, yet you had no intention of going out of bed. You just didn’t have the motivation to at all, until you saw a message from none other than your Serim hyung.

‘I’ll walk you to school today.’

Seeing as you still had half an hour left until school started, you decided to lay down for a bit more. You looked around your room, your eyes stopping on the very familiar sketchbook on top of your other school books.

Looking at it made you finally sit up from your bed. You thought of looking at it again, but decided not to as bad events would always happen when you did.

Bad events... You would rather not think about those.

You received another message from Serim. ‘I’m almost at your house.’

You immediately went out of bed, grabbing all of the things you needed for school, even the sketchbook that you’ve been trying to ignore for the whole morning, and dumped them into your backpack. The thought of someone finally wanting to listen to what you have to say about the sketchbook gave you a surge of energy. 

‘I’m going out already, hyung!’ You replied to Serim’s message, going out of your house and waiting for him to arrive.

[ Recess ]

Rumors have spread around the school about Serim ‘pushing’ Jungmo off, so a lot of people were still surprised seeing the senior freely walking around school grounds; with people staring at you too. Serim only gave you a small smile; silently apologising for the garnered attention. You only nodded in response. 

When Wonjin suddenly caught the both of you together, you saw his hand clenched. You see Serim gulping at the action; knowing that he’s defenseless if ever Wonjin punches him again. As much as Serim wants to fight back, he can’t because of his condition.

Truth to be told, Serim wasn’t even supposed to go to school today; but because of that sketch Hyeongjun told him, he tried to convince his parents about not letting him get confined; instead, he’ll attend daily check ups and treatments. He was surprised that he managed to convince them, as they were genuinely the ones who actually worried for Serim.

As much as Serim knows it’s bad to cling on Hyeongjun just because of the information he has, Serim didn’t care.

Why would Serim help Hyeongjun in the first place?

Wonjin’s gaze on them slowly overlooked, as Hyeongjun noticed from his peripheral vision that he’s talking to Minhee and Seongmin. Hyeongjun internally sighed.

Was this the start of their friendship falling apart?

Once you and Serim got food and sat down, you immediately got the sketchbook out to show Serim; but realized that you haven’t washed your hands yet. It’s a habit ever since you were young, so you rarely ever skip it.

“Hyung, I need to wash my hands. I’ll be quick!” You said, as Serim smiled and nodded.

Once you were out of Serim’s vision, he immediately took the sketchbook and took a picture of all the drawings inside.

Without knowing what your hyung was doing, you skipped to the bathroom and accidentally bumped into Wonjin.

“Hyeongjun, we need to talk.” He pleaded, holding onto your wrist.

“Yeah… I guess we could talk.” You said, as Wonjin dragged you to the remote side of the school, as it completely slipped your mind that Serim has your sketchbook.

“Why do we have to talk here?” You asked Wonjin, as he gestured to you to be quiet; looking around to see if anyone’s present. When the coast was clear, he faced you.

“I wanna talk about Serim hyung… do you trust him? Like all of the unusual things that he has been talking about. I know he’s our hyung but because of what's happening lately, I find it hard to trust him.” Wonjin said while looking straight to your eyes.

“I do. I told you about my sketchbook the other day, right?” Wonjin nodded. “I saw the box with roses Serim hyung was talking about on my sketchbook as well.”

“It was drawn… on your sketchbook?”

You nodded in reply. You saw a hint of shock on Wonjin’s face, but thought that you were just seeing things.

“Isn’t Serim hyung the one who gave us these sketchbooks?” He asked you, sounding a bit hesitant.

“Yes… why?”

“Do you think he’s behind all of the incidents that have been happening these past few days?”

“I’m not sure. We could never know who to trust at the moment.”

“What?” Wonjin asked you back, surprised with what you just said, “But you must at least find him suspicious right?” 

“He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do this.” You gave Wonjin a bit of explanation. 

“Okay, I don’t know why you’re still trusting him, but why is he at school? Didn’t he say he won’t go for a while?” Wonjin continued to ask you. 

“He said he was able to convince his parents to allow him to still go to school.”

“Sounds pretty suspicious to me.” Wonjin said, “And if another ‘incident’ happens again, I will assume he is behind all of this.” 

“Honestly I don’t think anything’s gonna happen, hyung..” you replied to Wonjin. “I think you’re just thinking negatively?” 

“Ugh, whatever.” 

“Wonjin hyung… there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you ever since I told you about my sketchbook.” You carried on the conversation. 

He signaled you to go on.

“Why does it seem like you already knew about it?”

Wonjin looked away at first, seemingly not wanting to answer your question. Then, he inhaled sharply and sighed.

“Would you like to go over to my house later? We can talk about it more.” 

You didn’t give any response.

“Don’t worry, Hyeongjun. You can trust me.” He patted your shoulder, finally leaving you alone.

As much as you didn’t know if you could trust Wonjin, you couldn’t help but be curious. You just had too many questions and thoughts and you hoped that he would be able to answer those, even if it would endanger your own safety. You had to get to the bottom of this.

However, you didn’t know that Allen was listening to your conversation with Wonjin.

-

[ 7:00 PM ] 

You arrived at Wonjin’s house, with Minhee already there. “Maybe this was what they were talking about earlier.” you thought to yourself. 

Out of confusion and shock, Minhee asked Wonjin “What is he doing here?” 

Wonjin said you all might be having a sleepover since the three of you are going to try to discuss the continuous ‘unlucky’ things happening to you and your friends. 

“You didn’t tell me that he would be here.” Minhee glared at you, making his way into Wonjin’s bedroom.

“I didn’t know you would be here too,” you mumbled, even though you knew he wouldn’t hear you. It wasn’t your intention to be heard, anyway.

“Don’t worry, he’ll come around.” Wonjin assured you, or himself. 

He started to walk to his bedroom as well, gesturing for you to follow. And despite the uneasy feeling you’ve been having about this ‘sleepover,’ you followed him. There was no turning back from there.

The atmosphere felt tense the whole time. The uneasy feeling from earlier still hasn’t left you, and you didn’t like it one bit. You were anxious that something bad might happen at any time.

“Does Minhee know?” You whispered to Wonjin, as he shook his head. 

“Minhee might look like he got over on the things happening lately, but he’s not. I initially invited him here today to let him relax but… I kinda forgot about that.” Wonjin chuckled a bit, seeing Minhee spacing out.

“Among all of us, I think he’s the one who’s missing Jungmo hyung the most.” Wonjin showed a regretful smile. 

“Didn’t you had like… a misunderstanding with Serim hyung and Jungmo hyung? What really happened?” You asked, as Wonjin sighed.

“Are you both going to just whisper at each other there and act as if I’m not here? If that’s so, I can leave.” Minhee sternly said, as the both of us finally sat next to Minhee who was obviously sulking. 

You stared at Minhee, who visibly looked like he hadn't slept for weeks. You pouted at the sight; his dark circles were prominent, he’s pale, and his eyes were kind of red. With everything that’s happening right now, you were sure that Minhee hasn’t got a blink of sleep.

You fixed the mattress that Wonjin laid out on the living room (Since the three of you can’t fit in his room due to his art materials scattered everywhere), as you put down all the pillows and blankets. Minhee willingly laid down on the mattress, cuddling Wonjin’s blankets. Wonjin then puts all of his plushies down, jumping on the both of them; the trio laughing.

Minhee internally sighed. He hasn’t felt this… happy and carefree ever since last week. He had, well, every one of them had to move on from their friends’ sudden deaths…

You noticed the way Minhee’s expression changed when Wonjin was still in the middle of tickling you both. You gave Wonjin a stern look, as Wonjin noticed Minhee, as he then stopped to fool around. Wonjin coughed, trying to ease the now awkward atmosphere.

Minhee was easy to read in these kinds of situations. When he’s quiet, he’s deeply thinking of something, along with him scratching the skin beside his nails and him biting his lip; you knew it all too well. You reached out to Minhee, engulfing him into a hug.

“Stop thinking about that…” You softly muttered, as Minhee faced you with glassy eyes. “We didn’t know it would happen.” 

“I know. I have no one to blame so I’m releasing my anger at you guys. I’m… I’m sorry.” Minhee chuckled. “Sorry for being insensitive for the past days.”

You tighten your hold to Minhee, as he finally returns the hug; with him resting his chin on your shoulder and finally letting a few cries out. Wonjin, who just came back from the kitchen for snacks, slowly backed away. 

Maybe this isn’t the right time to let him know about the sketchbook.

“I’m just so scared.” Minhee sniffled, burying his face on your shoulder, letting your shirt be stained with his tears. “I don’t want to lose anyone of you all. It’s too hard to accept.”

You pulled away a bit, now holding Minhee’s cheeks and slowly wiping away his tears. You pinched his cheeks, making the taller boy giggle slightly. Wonjin then finally went inside the living room again, diving to the both of you; now squishing the both of them together. Laughter was the only thing you could hear.

If only it was always like this.

[ 12:00 AM ]

Hyeongjun and Wonjin were now sleeping soundly, with Hyeongjun muttering a few incoherent words and Wonjin kept on tossing and turning himself around. Minhee, of course, was still awake; no matter how hard he tried to sleep, he just couldn’t. The final moments he had with Jungmo just continued playing in his mind.

He never told anyone about Jungmo’s last words, because he knew he would just cry and not be able to actually say it. When Hyeongjun left Minhee, Jungmo slowly fluttered his eyes open and raised his hand to Minhee’s cheek. 

“Don’t miss me too much, okay?” Jungmo said softly, as Minhee tried his best to not let any tears out. The last thing he wants anyone to see is him crying. 

“Also… it’s not his fault.” Jungmo croaked out, coughing a bit. Every move Jungmo made was piercingly painful. Minhee then stopped caring; his eyes starting to water.

“Jungmo hyung, you can still live. Please believe me hyung, please…” Minhee frantically said, visibly panicking when he saw more blood gushing out of the older’s head. 

“I love you guys.” Jungmo gave him one last smile, as he went limp.

The exact moment wherein the ambulance arrived.

Minhee finally woke up from his train of thought, completely forgetting what he was about to do. Though he swore in his entire life that he won’t ever take sleeping pills because he dreads the side effects which were migraines, he just wanted to have a good night’s sleep.

Minhee slowly stood up, trying his best not to wake up the two babies who were now somehow cuddling each other. Minhee smiled at the sight, as he made his way to the kitchen to get some water.

Grabbing the pills from his bag, he grabbed two pills and drank it in one go. Minhee knows the amount is a little too much, but he only just wanted to sleep. When he was about to go back to the living room, his eyes suddenly trailed to the sketchbook peeking out from Wonjin’s bag. Curious about his sketches (since Wonjin was suspiciously not showing his sketchbook for the past week), he took the sketchbook and flipped through it.

It was just a normal sketchbook, but then he saw a sketch with Taeyoung’s name tag beside a bowl, and the view of the school’s rooftop with a wooden box of roses. Weirded out, he then flipped to another page; almost dropping the sketchbook.

It’s a sketch of his bag, with the pills out. However, the label was different.

U-47700.

Suddenly, Minhee couldn’t breath. It was like his chest was tightening. His vision suddenly blurred out, and images of Jungmo and Taeyoung lingered in his mind. He was going crazy; he could even hear Jungmo’s last words and Taeyoung’s laughter. It was driving him crazy. 

He then started to jitter, as he tried his best to go to the bathroom to puke out the pills he just took. He obviously failed; knocking out on a few vases the living room had, and even accidentally stepping on Wonjin. When Minhee successfully got inside the bathroom, he tried his best to puke everything out. He felt chills; his vision wasn’t any better, and he feels like he’s about to faint at any time.

Wonjin woke up because of the noises he had been hearing; immediately running to Minhee when he could see him puking out. He frantically woke Hyeongjun up; with Hyeongjun grunting a little bit and stood up when he finally knew about the situation.

Wonjin immediately rushed to Minhee, as Hyeongjun stopped on his tracks when he saw a sketchbook on the floor with Wonjin’s name.

He then flipped through the pages, only to feel a rollercoaster of emotions. Wonjin… Wonjin drew all of this?

When he finally flipped to the last sketch, he immediately searched for the label to see what it does.

U-47700 is a drug derived from morphine, but it’s 8 times stronger. This drug creates a sense of euphoria, numbness, sedation and slowed breathing. It makes people lose a complete sense of reality and could cause never-seen-before psychotic behaviors. Though it is mostly inhaled, being exposed to this drug is extremely fatal at large doses.

You were panicking; you could hear Wonjin crying out in the bathroom, with Minhee telling him to get out. You looked through your phone; if you call an official number you knew that Minhee would be arrested as he has this kind of drug.

You decided to call Seongmin, every single ring making you feel more anxious.

Finally, he answered your call. But a different voice was heard in the other line.

“Hyeongjun?”

“Woobin hyung?” You were confused for a second as to why Woobin was the one who answered, but got back to your senses quickly as you knew that you had to act fast in order to save Minhee. “Something bad is happening.”

You told him what was happening in a rushed manner, feeling the tears that started to form in your eyes. You knew that you wouldn’t be able to handle another death, especially of someone you just made up with earlier. You couldn’t lose Minhee.

“I need your help. I tried coming up with ways on how I could save him, but I couldn’t think of anything… can you ask the others as well?”

“Of course, I will. And don’t lose hope, okay? He’ll make it.”

“Hyeongjun, help me!” You heard Wonjin shouting desperately from the bathroom. 

“I… I have to go now, hyung. Thanks.” You dropped the call and went to the bathroom where Wonjin and Minhee were.

“You stay here. Don’t go out. Stay with him,” Wonjin demanded, leaving the two of you in the bathroom.

“Hang in there, Minhee.”

You finally let out the tears in your eyes as you looked at Minhee. You felt so useless, not knowing what to do or how to help your friend. 

You were starting to lose hope, and what happened next didn’t help. Minhee suddenly dropped on the floor.

“Huh…” You looked at him in confusion. “What just happened…?”

You tapped on his shoulder repeatedly. “Minhee?”

While Wonjin went outside the bathroom, he looked for his sketchbook, and when he found it he tried to flip the pages and saw the sketch of Minhee’s pills; the label was erased.

At that moment, Wonjin went back inside the bathroom. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine now.”

“H-How do you know that? How can you be so sure?” You asked him, still not looking away from Minhee.

“He’s sleeping.”

That was only when you heard Minhee snoring. You sighed in relief.

“Can you help me carry him to the bedroom?” Wonjin asked you, squatting down beside Minhee.

After you brought Minhee to the bedroom, you and Wonjin cleaned the mess that was previously made by Minhee.

When you finished cleaning, you and Wonjin sat down on the mattress Minhee was asleep on, you both stared at Minhee’s sleeping figure. It was hard for you to process that you almost lost him.

“I’m sorry,” Wonjin broke the silence in the bedroom.

“For what?”

“I just am. Good night, Hyeongjun. Sleep well, okay?”

“Good night, hyung.” You replied to him and laid down on the same mattress.

-

“Are you sleeping here again for the night, hyung?” Seongmin asked Woobin who was still holding the younger’s phone.

“You don’t have any problem with that, right?”

“Of course, not, hyung,” he replied, smiling brightly at him.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Seongmin…”

“Hmm? What is it hyung?”

Woobin then remembered about the conversation he had with Wonjin yesterday, as the younger went to him for both comfort and advice. And with what Hyeongjun just told him… well; it’s hard to ignore it now.

“Woobin hyung…” Wonjin cried on Woobin’s arms. “I’m so scared…”

Though Wonjin hasn’t said anything yet to him, Woobin felt that it’s obviously about the previous events that were happening. Woobin patted the younger’s back, trying to make him calm down. As much as the situation was affecting Woobin too, he had to stay strong so the younger ones can rely on him. 

Wonjin then pulled out from the older’s comforting hold while wiping his tears. He rummages to his bag, shakingly handing Woobin the sketchbook. Confused, Woobin looked at the sketches; and looked at Wonjin in disbelief.

“These are…”

“Those drawings started to appear after the day Serim hyung gave us the sketchbooks. On the day of Taeyoung’s incident, I only got to see the sketch that night. Same goes for Jungmo hyung too.” Wonjin sniffled. 

Woobin examined the drawing with Taeyoung’s name tag. At first, he found the mood of the sketch eerie because of the way it’s shaded; especially on what’s inside the bowl. The light and shadow dynamics are so dramatic, meaning that it has a dark intent. With Taeyoung’s name tag almost having no shadows and the inside of the bowl is dark…

“Do you think there’s an allergen on Taeyoung’s soup?” Woobin said. Wonjin looked at him. “But..? He has been eating that every single day, why would he suddenly have an allergy to that?” 

“I mean, wasn’t Taeyoung allergic to something else? Didn’t Hyeongjun mentioned that he has an allergy?” Woobin pondered. 

“Oh… he’s allergic to nuts, right?” Wonjin said. Woobin thought about it once more, then nodded when he finally remembered.

“How could that mushroom soup that was made the same for the past years suddenly have nuts?” Wonjin said. Woobin sighed; not wanting to mention the initial thought he had.

“Whoever’s drawing these are targeting us. Maybe.” Woobin sighed. Woobin flipped to the next drawing, which was the one with a box of roses. Though he couldn’t really think of any symbolic meaning, his thoughts lingered to Taeyoung because of roses.   
He then noticed the initials on the corner of the page.

“Now, Goodbye…” Woobin muttered. “Isn’t this a goodbye message for Taeyoung?”

“What? How?” Wonjin said. 

“It’s just... Boxes usually symbolize keeping something. And it’s an open box, so that means the contest is revealed… It’s even a falling box with roses. If my hunch is right, then what this drawing pertains to is they’re letting go of Taeyoung. Like, they’re throwing him away.”

“So… are you saying Jungmo hyung’s death is just a coincidence?” Wonjin said, as Woobin slowly nodded.

“If what Serim said is true, then that’s likely the case.” Woobin said. 

“I think Serim hyung is behind all this.” Wonjin said. “First, he gave us the sketchbooks. Also, he has been acting so distant to me because I’m certain that he knows that I have some sort of information about this.”

“It’s too early to say anything, Wonjin. Let's just… wait for something to happen again.”

“And what? Have more deaths? Are you crazy?” Wonjin said.

“It’s too risky.” Woobin replied.

“You heard the call earlier, right?” Woobin asked Seongmin.

“Yeah… Is Minhee hyung okay? And… What sketchbook?” Seongmin asked. 

“I was just about to ask you about that… So you have no idea what’s happening too?” Woobin said. Seongmin nodded.

“I hope Minhee hyung is okay…” Seongmin slumped down. “Anyways, your phone is still charging inside my room, hyung. You can get it anytime.” 

“Thanks.” Woobin smiled. Woobin patted the space beside him, as Seongmin snuggled to the older. “You must’ve been having a hard time these days, right?”

“Hmm. We all do.” Seongmin started to play with Woobin’s fingers, as Woobin chuckled at the sight. Seongmin was truly still a child.

“You should sleep now. Don’t worry; hyung won’t leave you.” Woobin ruffled the younger’s hair. Seongmin looked at him with doe eyes.

“What if I’m the one leaving, hyung?” Seongmin asked. Woobin furrowed his eyebrows, weirded out by the question. “Why would you leave?”  
“I mean… What if I’m next?” Seongmin sniffled and tightened his embrace on the older, as Woobin soothes him down. 

“Don’t think about that, okay?” Woobin held Seongmin’s hand. “You should sleep now, you baby. Don’t think about more ridiculous things.”

[ 2:00 AM ]

Woobin woke up from his slumber to have a sudden urge to call Hyeongjun and see what happened to Minhee. He then remembered that his phone was charging inside Seongmin’s room, as he slowly pulled himself away from Seongmin’s cuddle. Lightly tip-toeing so he wouldn’t wake him up, he then got inside the room and opened his phone; calling Hyeongjun.

Hyeongjun wasn’t answering, so he assumed that the boys were soundly asleep. He sighed in relief.

When he was about to go out of the room, his gaze turned to one specific corner of his room.

An empty wooden box.

Well, he thought it’s empty…

Then he saw a sketchbook.

For some reason, Woobin was drawn to the sketchbook. He felt like he wanted to see what was in it. 

He took it and was about to take a peek, until he heard Seongmin’s voice.

“Hyung, why are you holding my sketchbook? I didn’t give you my permission to touch it,” he chuckled slowly.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Seongmin,” Woobin said, immediately dropping the sketchbook after.

-

“I’ll be back.” Allen said to his mother, as he gripped on his backpack and went out of the house.

Allen has been feeling stuffy ever since this whole fiasco started; he never really spoke about what’s happening, though he has been trying to piece things together by himself.

On the day he saw Hyeongjun and Wonjin talking, he really just saw them there by chance. Besides, it’s not like he followed them or anything; he was already there before they even arrived.

Allen was about to talk to them after hearing about the sketchbook, but decided not to as he knows that there must be a reason why they’re hiding it from everyone. He’s just going to wait till they’re comfortable enough to say it.

He shortly sprinted out to the cafeteria that day so he won’t get seen, and ended up hiding again because he saw Serim taking a picture of a sketchbook. Though he couldn’t clearly see what he was taking a picture of, he could see Serim looking around from time to time; like he’s afraid of being caught.

Allen quietly sat down 4 tables away from Serim, so he could at least decipher what he’s doing. Allen quickly hid himself with his hoodie when Seongmin suddenly sat next to the older.

“Hyung, what’s that?” He heard Seongmin asked. 

“Ah, it’s just… Hyeongjun’s sketchbook.” Serim said, flipping through the pages again.

“Why are you taking a picture of it though?” Seongmin said. “Also… the sketches look scary. This doesn’t look like Hyeongjun hyung’s drawings at all?”

“Shut up.” Serim said, which made Allen intrigued. He had never heard Serim use that tone of voice before, let alone him snapping at Seongmin.

“I’m sorry…” Seongmin said, as he quickly stood up and left Serim. 

Allen has been thinking about that incident all day. If it was Hyeongjun’s sketchbook, and he’s taking a picture of it… doesn’t it mean that he’s going to use it?

The thing is; he can’t really jump into any conclusions because he, himself, hasn’t seen the sketches yet.

And that’s where he’s going right now.

To Park Serim’s house.

-

[ 10:00 AM ]

Serim was awoken by the continuous knocks on his door, only to see a disheveled Allen on his doorstep. Serim was pushed away from the door, as Allen went inside.

“Uh… Why are you here?” Serim said, confused; as Allen placed his backpack on the floor and sat on the sofa.

“We need to talk.” Allen glared at Serim.

“About? I don’t think we have anything to talk about.” Serim said, as he brought him a glass of water. Allen just placed the glass on the table.

“About everything that’s happening.” Allen cleared his throat. “Why did you took pictures of Hyeongjun’s sketches?”

“How did you know about that?” Serim asked, as Allen rolled his eyes.

“Because I saw it? What kind of fucking question is that?” Allen said. “Oh. Were you trying so hard to do it discreetly, then?”

“No? Why would I?” Serim awkwardly laughed.

“So, why were you taking a picture of those?” Allen asked. 

“Because the sketches were pretty.” Serim blatantly lied. Allen first laughed in disbelief, then stood up and met Serim’s eye level.

“Really? I heard Seongmin said that the sketches were scary,” Allen then leaned next to Serim’s ear and whispered, “And it’s not Hyeongjun’s art style.”

“What do you even know about art styles? You only transferred to this major because you can’t be enrolled on others.” Serim said, as Allen gripped on his collar.

“What a fucking low move to even say that to me when it’s not related to our conversation. What the fuck are you even hiding?”

“Well why the fuck are you tormenting me like this when I haven’t done anything wrong?” Serim said, as he removed Allen’s grip on him, wincing a bit because he stretched his wrist. “Just get out if you’re barking on the wrong tree.”

“Am I, really?” Allen laughed. “Well, if you have nothing to hide; show me the pictures.”

“What?” Serim said. “And why would I?”

“Don’t you have any comprehension or something? I clearly said that if you have nothing to hide, then show me the fucking pictures. Idiot.” Allen gritted his teeth.

“I don’t want to, though.” Serim said. That was the last thing Allen wanted to hear, as he gripped on Serim’s shirt and punched him on his cheek.

“I don’t want to do this either, but if you’re being such a bitch then I have no choice. Show me the pictures and I’ll leave you alone.” Allen said. Knowing that Serim himself can’t even fight, he internally sighed and wordlessly handed him his phone. 

Once Allen saw the pictures, he laughed at Serim and threw his phone to the wall; the phone was now shattered to pieces. Acting on impulse, Serim pushed away Allen; then suddenly groaned at the sensation on his wrist.

“Fuck you. It was your intention all along to frame Hyeongjun, am I right?” Allen held onto Serim’s hurting wrist, and squeezed it; as Serim yelped.

“You weren’t even that close to Hyeongjun in the first place, and now that he’s trusting you; you’re now planning to fucking frame him? That he’s doing all of this?” Allen tightened his grip, as Serim tried to kick Allen away. 

“I knew it was weird that you’re putting off your stay at the hospital because you clearly can’t do shit now that you’re in this state. Guess you were planning to tell off Hyeongjun then get dropped out, huh?” Allen finally lets go of Serim’s wirst, as Serim could only look down; tears brimming on his eyes because of the intense pain.

“Hyeongjun has been trying to keep these all to himself so no one gets hurt, and he’s telling others because he couldn’t bear the responsibility anymore. And now you’re going to betray him? Ruining his trust on you? What a fucking joke, Park Serim.” Allen then grabbed onto his backpack, and was about to leave the house. He gave Serim one last look.

“I know I shouldn’t even be saying this, but I hope you’re next.”

-

[ 5:00 PM ]

You, Wonjin, and Woobin agreed to meet up at school to talk about the sketchbook. You had to get to the bottom of this somehow; before something else happens again.

Woobin then remembered the situation that happened the other day when he saw a sketchbook inside the wooden box.

For some reason, Woobin was drawn to the sketchbook. He felt like he wanted to see what was in it. 

He took it and was about to take a peek, until he heard Seongmin’s voice.

“Hyung, why are you holding my sketchbook? I didn’t give you my permission to touch it,” he chuckled slowly.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Seongmin,” Woobin said, immediately dropping the sketchbook after.

“Hyung, are you listening?” You asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

He put his attention back to Wonjin and you who were both showing him your sketchbooks.

“I’m sure it’s not any of us here right now,” Wonjin said. “I don’t think it’s Minhee as well. I mean, he almost died the other night, how could it be him? But, besides that… I literally have no idea who it could be.”

“I have to go to the bathroom,” you excused yourself, making your way out of the classroom.

“I’ll go with you,” Wonjin followed you outside, leaving Woobin alone in the classroom.

Woobin took that as an opportunity to take a better look at the sketches. He has seen them before, but thought that he had missed something. 

That’s when he realized how familiar the drawing style looked. 

“This is…” Woobin couldn’t believe his sudden realization.

After examining all of the sketches more clearly, he flipped another page, seeing another sketch starting to appear; a person choking someone, with a note on the bottom that read 'i'm sorry, hyung. i love you.'

Suddenly, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He thought that his nodules were acting up again, so he quickly tried to grab the water bottle he had; but the thing is, he couldn’t move.

It’s like someone was actually holding him for real.

Then, his throat tightened up completely; he was coughing out furiously, his vision slowly blacked out. He raised his hands to his neck, and he could feel like… a hand choking him.

But the thing is, he’s the only one in there.

Woobin knew this was going to be his last moment. He immediately grabbed the sketchbook and wrote on the last page; 

“I’m sorry, looks like your hyung can’t help anymore.”

With his last strength, he picked up his phone and pressed 1 on his phone as a speed dial. The person picked up, but didn’t talk.

“Why are you doing this, Ahn Seongmin?”

That’s all he managed to croak out, as he fell from where he’s sitted; lifeless.

Seongmin, on the other line, could only chuckle.

“You shouldn’t have involved yourself in this, hyung.” Seongmin sighed. “Too bad; you were even the person I trust the most.”

-

“Hyeongjun-ah.” Wonjin called you, as you turned to him. 

The both of you were currently about to go back to the classroom where Woobin is in, with snacks on your hands.

“I’m sorry about lying to you… about not seeing the sketches in the first place.” Wonjin looked down. You laughed a bit, and patted his shoulder.

“It’s okay. I understand.” You said. 

“Can you… promise me one thing?” Wonjin asked, as you tilted your head; curious.

“Hmm?”

“Let me handle all of this. Don’t do anything with your sketchbook, just… let me. Let me do all of the risks that you want to take.”

You shook your head. 

“I won’t let you do that, hyung. You’re important to me.” You pouted, as Wonjin smiled.

“You’re important to me, too. But, you shouldn’t be the one handling this.” Wonjin said.

Both of you then stopped in front of the classroom’s door, as Wonjin stared at you. 

“Why are you staring at me like that, hyung…” You muttered. Wonjin only gave you another smile.

“If something happens to me, just remember that I’m glad that I met all of you. And I love you.” Wonjin ruffled your hair, as he finally opened the door.

Only to see their hyung, Seo Woobin;

Dead.

The two of you rushed to him to check his pulse, only to immediately kneel on the floor and cry as there wasn’t any pulse. His body was cold, and there was a ligature mark on his neck.

You immediately checked the sketchbook, to see the drawing of someone choking someone else, and this case, it was directed to Woobin.

You tried making some scribbles on the sketch thinking that maybe.... maybe it can make your hyung wake up from his long slumber; but it's no use. Whatever you do, your hyung will not come back anymore.

'No, this can't be happening. I can't lose another hyung, please no. Tell me this is just a dream, tell me that everything will be fine once I wake up.'

It became difficult for you to breathe because of the tears that were constantly flowing from your eyes. From your peripheral vision, you saw Woobin's phone lying on the ground. You immediately picked it up and saw the last person he contacted; Ahn Seongmin. 

“Stop.” The school guard suddenly arrived at the scene. 

“We… We didn’t do this.” Wonjin slowly stood up. “We saw him, just now. We just came back from buying snacks.”

“Okay. Let’s say that I believe you, but I got a report from an anonymous student who reported this case already. Get out of here before the paramedics come, go to the counselor’s office and tell everything you want to tell.” You both scurried out of the room, taking your things along the way; not forgetting about the sketchbook.

You were still visibly shaking, the image of Woobin hyung still lingered in your mind. While walking to the counselor’s room, you then noticed Wonjin slowing down. You turned to him with teary eyes; as Wonjin completely broke down and curled himself on one of the secluded corners of the hallway.

“Wonjin hyung…” You couldn’t help it but to cry too. “Wonjin hyung, I’m really sorry…”

“Why are you saying sorry? I’m the one who should be…” Wonjin sniffled, as you took him to your embrace, patting his back. Wonjin reciprocated the hug; mumbling multiple sorry’s as you comforted him.

Woobin was undeniably close to Wonjin ever since Woobin transferred from music major to a fine arts major. Transferring at Junior year was… hectic, at least; especially since it’s a major change from music to fine arts.

Woobin sat next to Wonjin during the orientation, and Woobin was seemingly intimidated by the amount of fine arts majors that really seemed like artists, while he's just here because he can't continue on with his old major due to having vocal nodules. Though he can still focus on instruments, still; there's still this underlying desire to keep on singing, even if he loses his voice.

However, his parents wouldn't want that. Woobin didn't want to disappoint his parents, so he resorted on pursuing fine arts, as drawing was a hidden hobby that he had ever since he was young. 

Wonjin… at first glance, Woobin actually thought that he was an art prodigy because he was already sketching in the orientation, which was a little extra of him. Turns out he has been studying the architectural design of the auditorium because of its intricate details. Wonjin saw the older peeking on his drawing, so Wonjin wanted to show him what he was doing; then realized that this hyung was new. 

After the orientation, Wonjin toured Woobin around the fine arts building; gasping in awe when he heard that the older was a music major. Wonjin then babbled on how much he got interested in music when he was younger, and Woobin then thought that transferring wasn’t bad at all.

Wonjin then introduced Woobin to his friends; his classmates Ahn Seongmin, Kim Taeyoung, Kang Minhee and Song Hyeongjun; and his friends that are the same level as Woobin named Koo Jungmo, Allen Ma, and Park Serim. His relationship with them got deeper, and he could never ask for more.

But… What’s happening now?

Why is everything falling apart?

Once you made Wonjin to stand up before anyone sees the both of you, you immediately rush to the counselor’s room, sighing in relief when there’s no one inside.

“Hyung… we’re okay now, hyung; we didn’t do anything wrong, okay? Even if we were inside that room, Woobin hyung would still have to go through that. It’s not like someone actually strangled him.” You cupped Wonjin’s cheeks, and wiped away his remaining tears. Wonjin nodded, then sat on one of the chairs.

“Shouldn’t we tell this to others?” You said carefully, after a few minutes of silence; only hearing Wonjin’s whimpers from time to time. 

“They will just blame us. Just let the school announce it or something.” Wonjin muttered.

Wanting to forget Woobin’s state, you decided to distract yourself by looking through the bookshelves inside the room. All of them were related to psychology and some art-related books. You then furrowed your brows when you saw a file folder on the end of the shelf, labeled as Class 2-1.

That’s your class.

You then took the file, as you then flipped through the pages; seeing the familiar names of your classmates. Some have concerns regarding their grades, some have concerns about their own lives, and that one topic engraved in your mind was about mental disorders.

You then flipped through again, seeing Taeyoung’s records about him having hypersomnia and his… death record. You gasped; you never really heard of Taeyoung’s diagnosis after you left the hospital.

Taeyoung did die because of an extreme allergic reaction to nuts.

Then… was the soup drawn on the sketchbook intended to have nuts? 

You sighed, suddenly missing the happy virus. Despite him sleeping half the day, he never fails to put a smile on everyone’s faces. 

Next was Minhee’s record. Insomnia. You pouted when you saw when Minhee last visited the counsel room, which was a few days ago; since Jungmo’s death. It was also in the records how he wasn’t able to sleep for the past week, when he could at least sneak in naps before this whole chaos started. 

You couldn’t believe what you were reading when you noticed a very, very familiar name.

Ahn Seongmin.

He has… intermittent explosive disorder?

You quickly searched for it, which made Wonjin look at you.

Intermittent explosive disorder involves repeated, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation.

Seongmin… has this?

You grabbed your phone to message Allen. He was also a bit shocked to hear that at first, which made you think that maybe none of you knew that Seongmin has intermittent explosive disorder. 

You wondered why he didn't tell any of you that he has this kind of disorder, but decided to shrug it off, assuming that Seongmin just doesn’t feel comfortable telling the others about it. 

Your thoughts were cut out when you heard a notification from your phone. It was a message from Allen saying he will go to the counselor room to meet you and Wonjin. 

“We… we can trust Allen hyung, right?” Wonjin asked, as you nodded. “Allen hyung is the only one we can trust now. Minhee… I’m pretty sure he’s still in shock with everything. While Serim hyung… he still has a lot of problems to consider.”

“Woobin hyung…” Wonjin said, then immediately started to tear up again. “I’m already missing you so much, Woobin hyung…”

-

[ 7:00 PM ]

Allen called you earlier to just meet up in a convenience store near your school because there were a lot of people crowding the main school gates, presumably because of the commotion earlier. You and Wonjin went out of the school using the back entrance, sighing in relief when there’s no guards present.

“Why do you think Allen hyung wants to meet up with us?” Wonjin asked you, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“I don’t know... maybe he knows something? I’m sure he just wants to help, and is as desperate to get to the bottom of this as we both are.”

“Well, yeah, i guess you’re not wrong.. Let’s both meet him then.” Wonjin nodded and started walking. 

Once the both of you got inside the convenience store, you then saw Allen bandaging his hand. You immediately ran up to him, taking his hands; seeing bruises and small wounds.

“Hyung? What happened? Did you fight with someone?” You asked, as Allen nodded. “Yeah. I kind of gave Serim a piece of my mind earlier. He was being a bitch.”

“Serim hyung? Why? Did he do something?” Wonjin asked. Allen nodded again. 

“Hyeongjun…” Allen said, as you looked at him with worry. “Serim was trying to frame you, Hyeongjun.”

“Serim hyung? Is… going to frame me?” You said, trailing your words because of disbelief. “No… I trusted Serim hyung…”

“That’s why you should be careful on who to trust.” Allen had just finished bandaging up his hand. “People saw him looking down when Jungmo fell. Naturally, he had to find someone to blame because he certainly didn’t want to be blamed, so he went to you.”

You couldn’t believe it. You thought Serim was your friend, but maybe, people aren’t always as they seem. 

Even though they're your friends or family, you would never know who to trust. No matter how much time you’ve spent with them, people change. You never know when they would turn their backs on you. 

“Anyway, hyung… why did you call us here?” Wonjin asked Allen.

“This is really getting out of hand… all of this. I know the two of you wanna get to the bottom of this as much as I want to, and I trust you both. So, we have to act fast.” 

“So… do you have any idea on who's behind all of this?” You asked the oldest, as he shook his head.

“I went to Serim’s house earlier to see if he’s the one doing all of these, but he’s not. Don’t ask why, but I’m sure he’s not it.” Allen said, as you hummed.

“It’s not Minhee either… he almost died.” Wonjin said. “God, remembering what Minhee got into is making me shiver. I don’t really want to remember that.”

“Seongmin…” You trailed. “It can’t be Seongmin…”

“Seongmin? That… child? Is capable of doing all this? No. That’s impossible.” Wonjin laughed. “But… there isn’t anyone else we can pinpoint to. We know about everyone else, but Seongmin… We all just thought that he’s still not over Taeyoung.”

“Well… usually the unexpected people do unexpected things.” Allen said. “But, just because he’s the only option left, doesn’t mean that he’s the one doing all of this.”

“No… it’s Seongmin. I’m sure now.” You said, biting your nails because of nervousness. “Remember that day Jungmo passed? He was the only one at home. Woobin hyung took him home, but he immediately went back to school because he still had matters to work on, right? And it’s not like Seongmin’s house is far away from campus. Seongmin can definitely do a sketch in such a short amount of time.” 

“About Taeyoung… Other than you,” Wonjin gestured to you. “Seongmin would've known about Taeyoung’s allergy to nuts, and he might have drawn that whilst thinking of it.”  
“And Minhee… I don’t know how he knows a drug like that. Doesn’t it mean he’s been planning to kill Minhee for a while now? That requires a lot of research, and Seongmin can’t just assume that Minhee has sleeping pills since Minhee said before that he’s not taking them.” Wonjin added.

“I don’t get it… Why would Seongmin do such a thing? Especially to Woobin? He’s the kindest person I ever met.” Allen said. “Did they fight or something?”

“Not that I know of…” Hyeongjun said. “Oh, on the day Minhee almost… that; he was actually with Woobin hyung in his house. Seems like they had a sleepover, too.”

“That’s weird… Were they that close? I could’ve swore that I saw you and Woobin are the closest among all of us…” Allen gestured to Wonjin.

“I thought we were close too…” Wonjin looked down. “Now that I think of it, Woobin hyung has been keeping a lot of secrets lately. On the day I asked him about what’s the meaning of the drawings, it seems like he knew more; but he stopped himself from spilling further.”

“Maybe he’s protecting Seongmin?” You said. Wonjin looked at you with a stern gaze.

“Now why would Woobin hyung protect a murderer?” Wonjin said harshly, which made you gulp. Whenever Wonjin uses this tone, it’s hard to outspoke him.

“Think of it carefully. Seongmin has a disorder; an anger management issue. Maybe Seongmin just… couldn’t control himself.” You said, your voice quieting down when you realize how wrong your statement sounded.

“With a disability or not, that can’t justify what he did. Sure, if he did it only one time, then we could understand him, but the thing is… he did it four times now. He knows what he’s doing. He’s doing all of this on purpose.” Wonjin inhaled sharply. “I’m going to his house. I can’t take this anymore.”

Wonjin was about to leave the store, till Allen pulled him back and made him sit down. “Think rationally, Wonjin. If you go to his house without any warning or hint, then he might as well have you in his sketchbook next.”

“Then I’ll draw him in the sketchbook, then.” Wonjin got his sketchbook and pencil out, as the both of you tried your best to stop Wonjin from even making a stroke on the page.

“I’m going to kill you with my own hands if you even put a dot on one of the pages, so calm the fuck down.” Allen warned Wonjin, as the younger just huffed and listened to the older’s words.

“You won’t even know what would happen if you draw on the sketchbook. It might not be the same as Seongmin’s.” Allen sighed. 

“Are we actually sure that it’s him?” Allen asked again. “I’m just making sure, because we’re running out of time. We have to actually suspect somebody now, before all of us get… you know.” Allen trailed.

You suddenly remembered something.

“You went through Woobin hyung’s phone earlier, right?” Wonjin asked suddenly. You nodded.

“I did… I looked through his contacts… The last one he called was Seongmin.” You bit your lip. “If he was going to ask for help, he should’ve called us; not him.” 

“Wait… you looked through his contacts? You touched his phone?” Allen said, as you nodded. 

“You’re stupid. What if they inspect his things and see your fingerprints on his phone? You’re just giving Serim more reasons to frame you once the police actually finalizes the suspect.”

You only stood silent, grasping Allen’s words. You truly messed up.

“No… Am I going to be reprimanded for hyung’s death? Am I going to get expelled? Will I be locked up?” You suddenly panicked; as Allen held your hand. Wonjin only stood silent; the image of Woobin lingering in his mind.

“We don’t know for sure, but it’s most likely since the guards saw him… and you didn’t come out as a witness. Besides, you can’t really say that it’s all because of that damned sketchbook.” Allen said. You ruffled your hair out of frustration; all you just did was for help, but… it turned out like this.

“In the meantime, don’t come to school. Probably even take a leave.” Allen said. “We don’t know what Seongmin is up to now, so we shouldn’t provoke him.”

“Then what are we supposed to do? Just wait till Seongmin kills all of us?” Wonjin said. 

“Let’s approach him quietly.” Allen said. “Give me your sketchbook and pencil, Wonjin.” 

Wonjin wordlessly gave Allen the sketchbook and pencil, and got to a blank page; right next to the sketch related to Woobin.

“Hyung? What are you going to do?” You said.

“I’m thinking of writing ‘Are you Seongmin?’” Allen said. Wonjin scoffed.

“Don’t we already know that it’s Seongmin? Why are you still going to ask him?” Wonjin said.

“If he knows that someone is suspecting him, he’ll not do anything for the meantime. So… should I?”  
“I mean… it’s not like we’re going to do something harmful. We’re just going to simply ask.” Allen said. You thought about it once more, and nodded. Allen gave you a smile, and wrote ‘Are you Seongmin?’ on the said blank page.

“Do you think he’ll respond?” Wonjin asked. Allen just shrugged. “It’s just… worth trying. If he doesn’t reply, then we can find other ways.”

“Oh?” You said, as you saw scribbles appearing on the page Allen just wrote on. 

‘Who are you?’

“That’s Seongmin’s handwriting…” Wonjin said, clutching his fists. “Did he really know all along? He has been doing this on purpose?”

“Hey, don’t leave him hanging.” You said, eyeing Allen who seemed like he was in deep thought. 

“Are you okay?” Allen wrote on the blank paper. Wonjin furrowed his eyebrows, questioning why Allen even wrote that in the first place.

“Why are you asking him if he’s okay? He’s certainly not because no one is sane enough to do this kind of shit.” Wonjin sneered. Allen glared at him, reminding him to be careful of his choice of words. Wonjin just rolled his eyes.  
“Haven’t it ever crossed your mind that Seongmin didn’t even know in the first place?” Allen trailed. “Because who just plans a murder on a sketchbook and actually expects it to happen? What are they? Fortune Tellers? Time travellers?” 

“If he really didn’t want this to happen, he should’ve stopped when Taeyoung passed. But look! He’s continuing, and even went as far as killing Woobin hyung!” Wonjin rambled. 

“Can’t the both of you stop fighting for at least 10 minutes?” You sighed, already having a headache because of the non-stop bickering between the two.

‘I’m not okay.” Seongmin’s handwriting appeared again. Allen then scribbled “Did you know all along?”

“Why are you asking him such obvious questions-” You cut off Wonjin by shoving tons of snacks on his hands. “Just shut up and pay for that if you’re just going to go against every statement Allen hyung says.” Wonjin just huffed and went to the counter to pay.

‘I didn’t. Everything that happened in the beginning was a coincidence.’ Allen then looked at you, coughing a bit.

“Doesn’t that mean that… what happened with Woobin was intentional?” Allen stared at you, as you try to comprehend his words. 

Seongmin really meant to do that?

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions first, hyung.” You said, as you grabbed the sketchbook to write something; only for Allen to snatch it back from you.

“He’s going to freak out if there’s two different penmanships. Let me write,” Allen said. “What do you want me to write, actually?”

“Ask him for some details regarding Taeyoung and Jungmo hyung.” You said, as Allen wrote exactly that.

‘They’re both accidental and a coincidence. For Taeyoung, I just wanted to make him suffer, not… die. I wanted him to have an allergic reaction, I never had the intention of killing him. As for Jungmo hyung, it’s a coincidence; the drawing is meant to be a tribute to Taeyoung, hence the roses.’ Both of you started to fiddle with your fingers, obviously getting anxious.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” You said, holding onto Allen’s hand for comfort. Allen intertwined his hand to yours, squeezing it a bit just for assurance. “Should we stop?”

“We can’t. He’ll wonder why.” Allen said,as he scribbled again. “What about Minhee and Woobin?”

It has been a couple of minutes since Allen wrote that, and Wonjin just came back from buying all the snacks (which cost a lot), and he won’t stop glaring at you the moment he sat right back down. Surprisingly, Wonjin now stood quiet.

“Why is he not replying?” Allen said, his nerves getting jittery. “I’m getting nervous.”

At that exact moment, slow scribbles were made on the sketchbook. Every stroke Seongmin made scared the trio, especially when it was completed.

‘I wanted to kill them.’

Allen was about to write something again, but stopped when he saw big scribbles appearing. He immediately closed the sketchbook when it was done; obviously panting. You gripped on his hand tightly as a result, but Allen couldn’t keep himself calm.

‘Do you want to be next, Allen hyung? :)’  
Shakily, Allen started to write something, but ended up making only a single dot.

“Are you still gonna write him back?” Wonjin asked in disbelief. “Hyung, you’re literally digging your own grave right now.” 

“So?” Allen said, thinking of what to say to Seongmin. “It isn’t like you’re the one risking your life.”

“Hyung, can’t you see that I’m worried for you?” Wonjin sighs. “I don’t… want you to be gone too.” Wonjin said quietly, but enough for you and Allen to hear.

“That’s my decision to take. Don’t worry.” Allen smiled softly. Wonjin bit his lip, trying his best to hold back his tears. Allen looked at him; worried; as he hesitantly got near Wonjin and hugged the younger. Wonjin immediately bursted into tears; Allen wasn’t the type to initiate a hug or any form of affection, especially not to someone like Wonjin who is the complete opposite of Allen. 

You stared at the two, slightly tearing up. You noticed how much each of you love one another, to the point wherein everyone is at the point of sacrificing themselves. Allen suddenly turned to you, nodding his head; gestured you to join the heart-warming moment. You smiled slightly, and engulfed the two in a tight hug. Wonjin laughed a bit because of the ticklish sensation.

“It’s weird seeing you like this, Allen hyung.” Wonjin muttered. Allen only chuckled. “Yeah. Now get off me. I still need to write.” Allen paused for a bit, trying to think of something to say without provoking Seongmin.

‘Aren’t you regretting what you’ve been doing?’

“That’s… straightforward.” You commented. Allen sighed.

“I think he wouldn’t want us to beat around the bush at the moment since he now knows that someone knows him… and the fact that he knows it’s me.” Allen coughed, slightly getting nervous. Wonjin, who was only biting his lip the whole time after the hug, held the older’s hand. Normally, Allen would swat his hand away; but he held on tightly.

It took a while for Seongmin to write back, yet it was a short response.

‘Regret? You don’t even know what I’ve been through.’

[ FLASHBACK ]

[ 9:20PM ]

He kept on refreshing LVT High’s twitter page, waiting for the contest results.

He has been practicing for this contest for almost a month already, he expects nothing but to win. With the exceptional pressure from his parents and peers, he knew he needed to win this. He wants to brag to his parents immediately once he sees his own name on the page; that meant he could get his parents’ trust to even continue doing art in the first place.

“You gotta cut yourself some slack, don’t you think? It’s just a contest,” Taeyoung laughed softly, getting the pencil he was holding.

“Thanks for your concern... but, I have to win this,” he chuckled, taking back his pencil and continuing to draw.

Ahn Seongmin. 17 years old. Has been obsessed with art for almost all of his life, but never got recognition for it. All he wanted was to finally be recognized for his talent through this art contest. He was starting to get sick of it.

A lot of people say that his art style is rather... unique. He took this the hard way and started to ‘improve’ the way he draws. That’s what he’s been trying to do these past few weeks. WIth someone who wants to be a sculptor, which is a rare wanted profession by the youth; his style was essentially filled with rough shadows, sometimes uses one bold color to a black and white piece, and the trademark of his art style: the eerie, mostly messy style. Though, the work he has been passing to his teachers had the opposite; similar to Taeyoung’s style, which is more on the clean, smooth, and vibrant side of the spectrum.

He truly did adore Taeyoung’s art style; he saw him develop that throughout the years he has been classmates with him. Taeyoung is a natural art prodigy, he can assure you that. Have been winning art contests left, right and center; he is a very popular student in their school, and doesn’t have an ill relationship with anyone. Technically, Taeyoung is the epitome of perfection. 

Seongmin aspires to be like him. How does it feel not to be judged by others, but always praised? How does it feel to not doubt yourself or even overthink because you’re that skillful?

How does it feel to be loved and accepted by everyone?

Finally, a notification from his highschool lit up his phone screen. He took deep breaths before looking at it, then turned on his phone expectantly... only to be disappointed.

“Kim Taeyoung... of course. It’s always him.” He sighed, and chuckled a bit. “It’s funny for me to even assume that I’ll win. No matter how much effort I add, I will never be as good, as accepted, and as loved like Kim Taeyoung.”

Nevertheless, he went to their group chat and congratulated him, promising to give him Mint Chocolate ice cream as a treat.

“Mintcho my ass... why don’t he feast on something else?” He huffed, annoyed. “I can’t believe we love the same flavor of ice cream. I mean, it isn’t supposed to be something that I should be petty at, but for some reason that’s making me so annoyed.”

“Oh, Taeyoung-ah!” Seongmin called, as he gestured to Taeyoung to come near him. Taeyoung happily skipped, and gave Seongmin a high-five. “Oh? You’re going to treat me to ice cream?”

“Yeah! They have new flavors, Mint Chocolate and Peanut butter! What do you want to try?”

“I’ll get Mint Chocolate! I’m allergic to peanuts…”

And so he took out his new sketchbook and started to draw, not knowing the consequences of his actions.

‘I hope you’ll get an allergic reaction tomorrow, Kim Taeyoung.’

[ NEXT DAY ]

[ 7:30 PM ]

He lifelessly stared at the wall, still not being able to process his best friend’s death.

‘Did I kill him? Did he really get an allergic reaction because I wished for it?’

“You did your best, Seongmin. I’m so proud of you. But, next time... why don’t you show your true art style? It’s beautiful. Uniquely beautiful. I’m actually quite envious of you. Mine is too common.”

That was the last thing Taeyoung ever told him.

Shakily, he took out the sketchbook from his bag, turning the page open.

There it was. His hideous sketch that caused the death of his own best friend, the very person who admired his art style.

He couldn’t help but burst into tears again, throwing the sketchbook at the wall. He pulled his hair harshly, screaming in agony.

He hated himself so much.

‘But, Seongmin; isn’t this what you wanted?

You wanted to erase Kim Taeyoung from everyone’s lives.

Shouldn’t you be celebrating?’

Seongmin puts his hands up to his ears, trying to block any sinister thoughts lingering in his mind.

No… I didn’t do this. It’s a coincidence. It’s only a coincidence. It’s just by chance that the canteen personnels added some sort of nut substance to the mushroom soup.

‘Or so he thought.’

[ A WEEK AFTER TAEYOUNG'S DEATH ]

[ 12:30 PM ]

Lunch time.

It has been a week ever since Taeyoung’s death, but the thought of him indirectly being the cause of it still lingered in his thoughts. I killed him… I didn’t kill him… 

He can’t get caught. No one should find out. No one should even know about how sinister his mind is. Ahn Seongmin, to everyone’s eyes, is a boy who needs to be taken care of; a boy who’s always being cute and their happy pill.

If people knew how bad he actually is, then who’s going to be there by his side?

“Let’s buy something to eat, shall we?” Hyeongjun asked the rest of the table, snapping him out of his thoughts for a bit.

“I think none of us have the appetite to eat, Hyeongjun.” Allen finally replied after almost a minute of silence.

“He could’ve been eating that darn soup by now...” muttered Seongmin.

He can’t get caught. He can’t get caught. He can’t get caught...

Not realizing that he was on the verge of breaking down again, Wonjin moved closer to Seongmin, patting his back.

‘See? This is the Ahn Seongmin everyone knew.

A weak, fragile, and emotional Ahn Seongmin.’

[ 4:00 PM ]

School finally ended for that day, it felt so long for all of the boys.

Seongmin decided it was better to go home today without Hyeongjun, unlike other days. Initially, he just wanted to be alone; but for some reason, he had this weird gut feeling about Hyeongjun and he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Just as he was about to leave the school, he heard Woobin calling out his name.

“Do you want me to walk you home today?”

He took a bit of time to answer. If he was going to be honest, deep inside he knew that he needed someone. Not to listen to his story, but just… someone else’s presence.

He can’t be alone.

“I’ll be passing by the cafe today... do you wanna tag along?” Woobin asked him, slinging his arm around the younger’s shoulders.

“No, thanks.” he replied, attempting to pull off a smile at him. “Don’t you have a club to attend, hyung?”

“I can be a little late,” Woobin smiled. “Besides, I’m worried for you. I know accepting things at the moment must be so hard. You and Taeyoung are practically siblings.”

You and Tayeoung are practically siblings.

“I’m the cuter sibling, right?” Seongmin pouted, trying not to think about what Woobin just said.

Woobin pinched his cheeks, amazed by his cuteness. Seongmin used to hate it when people did that to him, but with this hyung, he just got used to it. He actually started to love it when it came from him.

That’s what he loved about his Woobin hyung. He knew how to comfort others at any given time, no matter what the situation, even if he was hurting as well.

When they both arrived at the doorstep of Seongmin’s house, they bid their goodbyes to each other.

His smile dropped as soon as he entered the house. He was alone again.

He missed his best friend so much... but, maybe it was time he let go of him.

Staring at the sketchbook which was laying on the ground near the wall, he picked it up;

and started to draw again.

'I miss you, Kim Taeyoung.'

ㅇㅈㅇㄴ

“Now, goodbye.” He wrote at the corner of his drawing, marking it as done.

Roses in a box.

The wooden box. He eyed the said box on the edge of his room, filled with pictures and artworks he made or received from Taeyoung. Usually, Taeyoung sends him the pieces he wants constructive criticism of, but half of the time he just gives it to Seongmin. Seongmin grabs a polaroid; the one they took on his 16th birthday. Seongmin laughed, throwing the picture back to the box.

It was done, unchangeable.

He had no choice but to say goodbye.

He grabbed the wooden box and a matchbox from the kitchen, and went to his backyard. He gets to the corner of the backyard, tossing all of the box’s contents to the lawn. He then set it on fire, backing up a bit when the flames were getting worse.

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrating from his pockets, taking it out.

Woobin.

“Hyung?” He answered the call. “What is it?”

“We’re at the hospital right now. Please come here.”

Woobin ended the call right after saying that.

Could it be...? Did his drawing harm someone else again?

The thought himself scared him so much. Anxiously, he rushed to the hospital, leaving all of his memories to burn. 

-

He was right.

“I called Jungmo to tell him that and to tell you all that I’m leaving. I can’t face you guys but.. yeah, here we are.” Serim broke down completely.

“Serim hyung...” Seongmin cried. “I’m so sorry you have to go through all that, Serim hyung...”

His cries were genuine. He really didn’t intend for this to happen to his Jungmo hyung.

It was a coincidental death;

and an innocent friend was getting all the blame for it.

-

Seongmin wiped away the tears from his eyes with his hands as soon as he woke up, the tears being evidence of him crying himself to sleep.

He couldn’t fathom the fact that he was the cause of two of his close friends’ deaths. 

It took so much of his willpower to finally stand up from bed and to prepare for school. He didn’t want to go at first, but thought that maybe having his other friends around would feel nice... even after the things he did.

It’s not like he wanted those to happen, anyway.

‘Was it, really?’

Suddenly, his phone lit up. It was a notification from Woobin.

‘Do you want me to walk you to school today, Seongmin?’

Without hesitation, he said yes.

“Are you sure you can go to school today?” The older asked Seongmin as they started to walk to school.

He nodded, gripping tightly on his backpack straps. 

“Come here,” he engulfed the younger in a hug. “Hyung’s here for you, okay? I know how hard it is for you to accept the recent events, especially with Taeyoung’s. He took care of you well. From now on, I’ll be your Taeyoung. In return, treat me like how you treated him. Is that okay?”

“Treat you like how I treated Taeyoung?” He asked softly.

“If that’s okay with you.”

‘Am I going to end up killing you too, hyung?’

[ 7:00 PM ]

“From now on, I’ll be your Taeyoung. In return, treat me like how you treated him. Is that okay?”

His words echoed across Seongmin’s head throughout the whole day. 

Taeyoung was like the personal counselor he never asked for but always needed. Whenever Seongmin was feeling down, he was there. He understood Seongmin the most among the others, yet... this is how he repays him.

“Can I use your bathroom?” Woobin asked him.

“Sure, hyung.”

It took a lot for the younger to let him stay in his house. It was just too risky... What if he’s just curious about the sketchbook? 

With a shaky voice, he said quietly. “No, hyung... I’m not treating you the same way I treated Taeyoung.”

Suddenly, he remembered that Minhee and Wonjin were going to have a sleepover that night. He found out when he accidentally eavesdropped on their conversation earlier in the day.

He was annoyed. How dare they go to a sleepover without him? Minhee used to invite him over every time they would have sleepovers, but why not now? 

Did he forget about me?

Without thinking, he took his sketchbook from where he hid it;

and started to draw again.

“What are you doing?”

Seongmin closed his sketchbook in panic.

“Hi hyung.”

“You seemed pretty immersed in your drawing.”

Truthfully, Seongmin almost forgot that Woobin was there.

“By the way, can I charge my phone? It’s gonna die soon.”

”Sure. I’ll charge it in my room.”

“I can do it,” Woobin said.

Seongmin stood up, snatching the older’s phone. “I’ll do it.”

Because, I still need to put the finishing touches on my sketch.

“Well, thanks, I guess...”

He made his way to the bedroom, Seongmin sighing in relief when he closed the door behind him.

“That was close.”

He charged Woobin’s phone, then opened one of the drawers where his sketchbook was hidden.

He opened the sketchbook and took his pen, writing something at the center of it.

U-47700.

Suddenly, he heard Woobin calling out his name from outside, so he hurriedly threw the sketchbook at the box beside his bed without thinking, then opened the door to see Woobin holding the younger’s phone.

“Hyeongjun’s calling you,” he informed him.

“Answer it please.”

Woobin nodded, pressing speaker mode as he answered the call. “Hyeongjun?”

“Woobin hyung?” Seongmin heard your voice. “Something bad is happening.”

You explained the current happenings through the call.

After the call, Seongmin excused himself and locked the door to his bedroom, realizing how serious the situation was.

He rushed to where his sketchbook was.

“He took more than one pill,” Seongmin assumed. “How stupid of him to do that. It wasn’t my fault, right? I just wanted him to suffer.”

He hurriedly took out his eraser, replacing the drug with Minhee’s sleeping pills, then threw his sketchbook back into the box, the force giving out a loud thud.

“Are you okay in there?” Woobin knocked at the door softly.

Seongmin inhaled deeply to calm himself down before he could respond to the older. “I’m fine! Nothing to worry about!”

Of course, he wasn’t.

Nevertheless, he mustered up all the willpower he had left to open the door and saw Woobin seated on their living room’s couch, still holding his phone.

“Are you sleeping here again for the night, hyung?”

“You don’t have a problem with that, right?”

“Of course not, hyung,” he replied, smiling brightly at him.

[ 2:00 AM ]

Seongmin woke up without Woobin beside him. He felt cold and longed for the older’s warmth.

Looking around, his eyes stopped at his bedroom, noticing that the lights were on which meant someone was inside.

His sketchbook was in Woobin’s hands.

“Hyung, why are you holding my sketchbook? I didn’t give you my permission to touch it.” he chuckled.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Seongmin,” Woobin said, immediately dropping the sketchbook after. “How did you know I was here?”

“The door was open. I woke up just now and felt lonely,” he whined.

“Sorry about that, Seongminie. I’ll make it up to you, okay?” He said, patting the younger’s head fondly.

Seongmin giggled, pulling him away from the bedroom.

'SEO WOOBIN IS SUSPECTING YOU AHN SEONGMIN. SEO WOOBIN. SEO WOOBIN. SEO WOOBIN. KILL SEO WOOBIN.

KILL HIM.’

[ 5:00 PM ]

Looking at the photo they both took the night before, Seongmin couldn’t help but cry.

“Why does it have to be you out of all people?” He whimpered.

He almost couldn’t breathe from the extreme sadness he was feeling.

Nevertheless, he continued drawing.

When he finished the sketch, he just then noticed how tear stained his sketchbook was. Wiping his tears away, he wrote a note at the bottom of the page.

‘i’m sorry, hyung. i love you.’

There was a lot he wanted to tell the older, but he knew he didn’t have much time. Woobin was going to die soon.

Just as he was about to close the sketchbook, he saw scribbles under what he wrote.

‘I’m sorry, looks like your hyung can’t help anymore.”

After that, he felt his phone vibrating from his pockets.

It was Woobin.

“Why are you doing this, Ahn Seongmin?”

He chuckled.

“You shouldn’t have involved yourself in this, hyung.” Seongmin sighed. “Too bad; you were even the person I trust the most.”

He then ended the call, and continued to laugh as if he wasn’t crying his eyes out earlier.

As if he didn’t just lose the person he loved so much.

All this time, he unknowingly ended up treating this hyung the same exact way he treated Taeyoung; both ending up dead because of him.

[ PRESENT TIME ]

‘Regret? You don’t even know what I’ve been through.’

Startled, Allen dropped the pen as the trio saw scribbles starting to form on an empty space on the page.

Gradually, it started to look more and more like a person.

But, who was it?

The sketch became clearer; it made Allen shiver more when he noticed that the person Seongmin is drawing was actually him. Out of nervousness, Allen grabbed the pencil immediately and started to furiously shade his face away and drew Seongmin instead.

“Hyung, hyung stop!” Wonjin grabbed onto Allen’s wrist, only to be pushed away by the older; Wonjin ended up bumping against the shelves while you immediately jumped from your seat and helped Wonjin out.

Allen, who was known for being that talented fine arts major but didn’t actually want to have a profession related to the said major, was notorious for being able to draw a portrait realistically in just minutes. 

“Allen hyung! Get back to your senses!” You said, finally grabbing both the pencil and sketchbook away from him, throwing it away.

“What did you draw, hyung?” You said. Allen didn’t answer; he just breathed heavily and his hands were trembling. Not having any of this, you bit your lip and grabbed onto Allen’s collar. “What the fuck did you draw, hyung?”

“B-Blood… I saw Blood.” Allen stuttered. “I… I didn’t draw that. I’m pretty sure Seongmin didn’t, too. It’s blood. It’s droplets of blood. The injury Seongmin drew for me was then drawn for him because I shaded my own face and drew him instead.”

“What was the injury, hyung?” You said, getting frustrated at how Allen was acting. “What is it?”

“A… a cut on his arm.” Allen breathed out. You immediately rushed to get the sketchbook and tried to erase the sketch, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Fuck.” You cursed one last time, as you eyed Allen and Wonjin. You threw the sketchbook to Wonjin, and wordlessly ran away to go to Seongmin’s house.

You could hear the echoing voices of the two calling you, but you didn’t look back. 

Though Seongmin had made tons of mistakes, you believe that he could still change.

...right?

After running for an eternity, you finally got in Seongmin’s house. You looked for him everywhere; the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, their backyard, but he was nowhere to be seen. You finally got to the last room, which was his room; and saw Seongmin curled up under his drafting table, holding onto his arm and was visibly shaking and tearing up.

“Hyung?” Seongmin said in a broken voice. You hesitantly got near him, still wary as he may lash on you.

“Seongmin-ah,” You called out. “I’m here to help you, okay?”

“Hyung… don’t come near me.” The latter cried. “I’m a monster, hyung. I killed them, I didn’t want to but I did.” Seongmin cried. 

“This?” Seongmin gestured to his wound. “Hyung, I deserve this. I really do. So please, get out before I do anything with you. I can’t control myself.” Seongmin cried even further, now letting go of his grip to his wrist. 

You couldn’t do anything. There’s this part in you that says to listen to him and run away because as much as you want all of this to end, you were still scared for your own life. Of course, the other part of you didn’t want to leave him alone, instead to help him get better.

If you don’t help him, who knows what will happen next.

“Seongmin-ah.” You called him once again. “I love you.”

Seongmin looked at you with a questionable expression, and chuckled lowly. 

“Really? You do, hyung?” Seongmin said. You nodded, though you’re not entirely sure. All of that’s in your mind right now is to finish this mess.

“Bullshit.” 

Seongmin went out from under his desk, letting blood ooze out from his arm. It was a deep, long cut; you mentally swore to Allen for even drawing him.

“Who would even love me at this rate, Hyeongjun hyung?” He laughed. “While I’m asking nicely, please just get out. I don’t want to do anything with you.”

“Seongmin, I’m here to help. I’m here to get you back to your normal self. To the Seongmin we all knew.” You said, inching closer to him. “We can sort this through, okay?”

“Back to my normal self?” Seongmin scoffed. “Hyung, this is who I really am.”

Seongmin then stepped closer to you, and you tried your best not to back out. If this was going to be your last moment, then at least you finally confronted Seongmin.

Suddenly, Seongmin dropped down; which startled you. You didn’t move for a second, thinking it was a trap; but decided otherwise when his hand went limp.

You could hear more footsteps in the house, then the door suddenly opened; you see Allen, Wonjin, Serim, and Minhee; breathing heavily.

“We got him,” Wonjin said, dropping down to the floor. “He fainted.”

“What?” You said, looking at Seongmin, then back to the boys. “Did you perhaps..?”

“Yeah, we drew him.” Allen breathed out. “We don’t have much time till he wakes up, so lets get him to the hospital.”

-

[ 9:30 PM ]

“I called the counselor earlier.” Minhee said. “She thought I was going to have a counsel session so the call was a little long, but I asked about Seongmin’s condition and… I guess he really just couldn’t control himself.” 

“Hyeongjun-ah.” Serim called you, as you turned to look at him and hummed. 

“I’m sorry.” Serim looked down, as you just smiled slightly and patted his back. “It’s okay, hyung. You didn’t end up doing it anyways.”

“Still,” Serim sighed. “I thought of it, and even planned meticulously. I’m ashamed of myself, so please just accept my apology and don’t even sugar coat your words.” 

A long silence was heard after. It felt like all of you were now at peace; like nothing is going to happen again.

“Will Seongmin be confined?” Minhee said. Wonjin and Allen hummed. “Most likely. With the damage he has done, he might even get in probation and drop out from school. I doubt schools would even accept him after all of this… chaos.”

“Why do you think he even had the thought of drawing those things? He could’ve written about it instead. Drawing takes too much time and energy.”

“The sketchbook was his hideout,” You muttered, but everyone heard it. Baffled by the sudden shift of attention to him, he coughed out. “The sketchbook was his safe place. Even if others see his drawings, people wouldn’t get to assume that it’s figurative or not. No one would judge him because that’s his style. No one will come to the conclusion that he’s actually intending that. If he wrote about it instead, then who knows what description he’ll muster. That’s the beauty of art compared to writing anyways; it can be interpreted in different ways, and it could be an escape for people. His hideout.”

[ 9:00 AM, GRADUATION DAY ]

It was the senior’s graduation day. It ended up that Serim and Allen were the only ones who could do so; Serim almost even missed the opportunity because he has been absent a lot for his treatment. Your recognition day was a day after, and you’re still glad that you still have Minhee and Wonjin.

Unfortunately, Seongmin voluntarily left the school. He is now focusing on treatment on the same hospital Serim is in; so they still have contact with the latter. Seongmin was slowly going back to his smiley self, though there has been reports that he was relapsing.

You just hoped for the best.

You met up with Wonjin on a remote part of the school after the ceremony, holding onto the sketchbooks. Seongmin has been doing his therapy session with the notebook, and fortunately he hasn’t been drawing anything harmful.

“I’m glad Seongmin is progressing well.” Wonjin smiled. “I guess we don’t have to monitor him anymore.”

“Yeah. I’m glad.” You smiled. “The others threw away their sketchbooks too, right?”

“They did. They got scared.” Wonjin laughed. “They should just be glad that they didn’t got the sketchbook that shows Seongmin’s drawings.”

Wonjin then threw the sketchbook onto the trash bin, as you flipped through the pages; seeing how Seongmin’s thoughts improved over time.

However, you stopped flipping when you saw that another scribble was appearing.

‘Moving up to another level without me? That’s sad.’

You then flipped over the page, seeing an already completed sketch of you, Wonjin, Serim, Allen and Minhee.

Then a big x mark was made.

‘Let’s see each other soon, hyungs.”

**Author's Note:**

> don't forget to check out @chainaus on twitter! this was just a rollercoaster to write with zootensils aaaaaaaaaaa i didn't proof read this so feel free to comment if you see any errors! (like random phrases we wrote while panicking lmao)


End file.
